IG Garhwal range Sanjay Gunjyal said the MLA from Mussoorie was arrested from outside a hotel in Patel Nagar area on the basis of an FIR lodged against him and his associates at Nehru Colony police station here in connection with the assault on the police horse on March 14.

The official said Joshi was being interrogated. He, however, refused to disclose where the MLA has been taken. Reacting sharply to the development, BJP lodged a protest with Governor K K Paul and alleged it was "abduction" of its MLA.

"The manner in which Joshi was picked up from outside a hotel suggests he was abducted. Those who picked him up were in plain clothes and it is not clear whether they were police personnel or goondas," Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Ajay Bhatt said.

Bhatt said he had called on Governor K K Paul to register his protest against the manner in which the party legislator was picked up.

The action against Joshi comes a day after the arrest of another party worker Pramod Bora from Haldwani in Nainital district yesterday.

Dehradun SSP Sadanand Date said Bora along with Joshi was responsible for precipitating the fall of the horse during the protest March on March 14 which caused grievous injuries to one of its hind legs.